The use of a preformed mold or "form" for installing a refractory lining adjacent to a brick surface, for example, in a chimney, duct, or furnace, is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,442,050, issued to Takuo. Initially, the work surface to be lined is surrounded by a screening member, such as a wire netting having suitable air escape openings. The screening member or "form" is positioned relative to the work surface so that the work surface and screening member define a space to be occupied by the refractory lining. Then, refractory material is poured or sprayed into the space, and caused to harden.
The foregoing prior art method uses a preformed screen mold large enough to cover the work surface being lined. This method is adequate for chimneys, ducts, and other containment devices which have large enough openings to accommodate insertion of a preformed mold having suitable dimensions. However, this prior art method has not been suitable for any vessel or other containment device whose main opening is too small to allow insertion of a preformed mold, i.e., whose main opening is much smaller than the diameter of the containment device. In these situations, the refractory liner has usually been formed by the tedious and time consuming installation of refractory bricks.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,672,649, issued to Allen, discloses the use of stacked segments of a consumable mold in a blast furnace. Each segment includes a circular form supported by a plurality of radially adjustable spokes. The radially adjustable spokes facilitate the initial insertion of the form segments into the blast furnace opening, whose diameter is only slightly smaller than the widest diameter desired for a mold segment during use. However, since the amount of radial adjustment is limited by mechanical features of the device, the disclosed method would not be useful in a torpedo vessel or other metallurgical vessel whose main opening is much smaller than both the diameter of the vessel and the maximum diameter required for the consumable form during use. Also, this reference discloses the use of a labor-intensive gunning process for injecting refractory composition into the mold.